Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1914 — WEEK’S CAMPAIGN TO BRING ALL TO CHURCH [ARTICLE]

WEEK’S CAMPAIGN TO BRING ALL TO CHURCH

Ministers and Laymen Strive Hard to Arouse Interest in Church Going Movement. “Go-to Church Day for Everybody” will be observed in the churches of this city next Sunday, Pcb. Ist. Every person, old and youhg, is expected to attend some preaching service on that day. This is invitation week and the ministers hope to have every person in town and surrounding country decorated with a badge pledging [their attendance at church. It is hoped that the spirit of church going will be so general that all the churches will be filled to the doors. Possibly the seed for good may be sown in some hearts and that church work may be given impetus in consequence of this effort Saint Augustine, born in 354 A. D., had surrendered to the temptations oif life and was a wayward and irresolute man when he went to church one day to hear St Ambrose, whose eloquence attracted him. He returned time and again and became a convert although be fought for a long time against surrendering his contrary philosophy. The need of a personal Savior to give him power to ward off temptation brought this surrender and he was baptized when 33 years of age. Soon after, his mother, whose prayers had been for his rescue from sin, closed her eyes and died in peace. Saint Augustine’s greatest work is ‘Confessions,” while "Retractions” published after he was 74 years of age, is A classic of those days. He frankly acknowledged the mistakes of his life, which he reviewed as a guide to others. Joachim Neander, horn in 1640, once attended church out of curiosity, and afterward became a great hymn writer. He wrote “Praise Ye the Lord for He is the King of Creation.” Special services will be held in all of the church and there will be a union service at the M. E. church in the afternoon.